This invention relates to an electrostatic device for the gating of electromagnetic radiation and more particularly to such a device having a resilient variable electrode. An insulative film is bonded to either a fixed or the variable electrodes so as to provide electrical insulation between the two electrodes. In some prior devices of this kind the variable electrode is mounted to the fixed electrode. It is particularly difficult in such structures to provide a mounting of the fixed electrode that does not induce wrinkles in the thin resilient electrode. When the mounting of the variable electrode is spaced from the fixed electrode and the variable electrode is straight in this space, the wrinkles emanating from the mounting are attenuated but still remain a source of variability insensitivity. Such wrinkles tend to radiate away from the mounting and make the variable electrode stiffer. This in turn raises the sensitivity of the gate to an electrical signal that is applied between the two electrodes to cause the variable electrode to be drawn to and become coadunate with the fixed electrode. Furthermore, in manufacturing a large number of such devices the sensitivity of the devices from unit to unit is not uniform.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an electrostatic gate having a greater sensitivity to an applied electrical signal by eliminating wrinkles in the variable electrode.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an electrostatic gate having a more uniform and predictable sensitivity to an applied electrical signal.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an electrostatic gate capable of being assembled in a simple non-critical manner.